The Hole: An Exp Haven Zone Guide

[thufir]

My static group has come here several times. Last time I made it a quest to find the Imbued Granite Spauldors, an amazing shoulder item for tanks. Went down to the prison and killed ratman warriors for a few hours. One actually dropped the Spauldors... which I then discovered, to my chagrin, cannot be used by ogres. Wah waaaah. Shoulda checked the wiki more closely...

Still, a great zone. Difficult for sure, and long CRs if you wipe. Not being able to escape without a gate item/spell/porter/rogue is also annoying. But the coolness of the zone and the high ZEM outweigh the drawbacks.

People should especially consider coming here instead of Karnor's. Karnor's is not nearly as packed with mobs as The Hole is. Here, you'll always have something to kill. Man, would it be great if this became the new Karnor's. I can't actually imagine every possible place being camped here. You could fit three times the number of groups in here as in KC and not run out of mobs.

[Sorn]

This zone was a blast with Wedar along! Will go back again if I'm not busy when given a group invite.

Just a note, The Hole is a very linear sort of zone and you will know when you're too low for a camp because you will be stopped dead in your tracks by the mobs. Always make sure you have a way to gate/port out!

[shooteneq1]

i know the hole is good xp and lots to do there, ive just never been a fan of the place. not sure what it is but i cant get into it, im not the only i guess since it was always empty on live and i guess here as well. everything you said sounds great.....i just dont dig the place for whatever reason.

[Expediency]

Great thread.

Hole is highly underrated. Even on double exp weekend there were plenty of mobs to kill here.

The camp near the first drop down (castle ent?) should be permacamped by exp groups like lcy is, but is usually open for some reason. mobs all damn day.

I have leveled two of my characters here on and off, and there *are* some pickup characters available occasionally but they are casters 90% of the time. You pretty much have to always bring your own tank and melee dps. As the thread noted though casters can do better than usual in the dps department here because of the anti summon/undead spells as well as charming strong mobs.

Other than getting in the keyed door which can be a pain, getting to the hole is arguably easier and definitely safer than pretty much any other option at that level. Its quick too. You port to toxx (total newb zone) and then run through the open part of paineel with nobody who will aggro you.

Druids in particular should pay attention to this thread, the hole was one of the only places post 50 that groups seemed to want my druid (getting in and getting out) and they have skills really suited for use there (anti summon spells)

[Naethyn]

You know, the hole is the one zone making groups where I would save a spot for a druid. Also, if you like to group with enchanters I can't count the number of times I found an enchanter busy soloing ent or further in only to join us. Best hole group: Tank, Cleric, Druid, Enchanter, Enchanter, Enchanter (charming capturer rog pets)

[Rygar]

Originally Posted by Naethyn [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

You know, the hole is the one zone making groups where I would save a spot for a druid. Also, if you like to group with enchanters I can't count the number of times I found an enchanter busy soloing ent or further in only to join us. Best hole group: Tank, Cleric, Druid, Enchanter, Enchanter, Enchanter (charming capturer rog pets)

Best group I had here was 2 enchanters, shaman w/ epic, druid with manastone, cleric, and I was tanking (as a 54 monk). We completely owned shop, went through golems and undead like butter. For level 54 my exp bar was flying.

[Nitsude]

I made some of my best friends in a pickup group in the Hole. I'd join a Hole group over LCY in KC any day.

[REMEZ]

Great writeup.

As an enchanter I can add a couple things...
Highest level golems and undeads(level 54) can not be stunned, mezzed or feared, root is your friend for CC on these.
Ghoulbane is another good weapon to give your pet at undead city.
You can snear/fear in the "pit" if you are careful - goes great with charmed rogue pet.
The Ghost of Kindle dont social agro the other mobs in the zone and can be pulled to zoneline with "tag and gate" tactics. (non kos enchanter binds at ZL then jumps in at Master Yael, runs up to kindle with IVU and tag with crit calm to keep range and out of sight so you have time to get gate off. Calm the last undead before top of stairs to Kindle)

Trio dock group CLR WAR ENC is one of the most fun and challenging groups I have done in EverQuest. During 2xXp weekend you could walk from zoneline to docks and not get agro, first and only time I ever saw this zone alive - it was awsome. Lets open up the hole to more visitors!

Edit; The 3 teleports just off city takes you to: Paineel observatory, inside Erudin.. somewhere and Neriak 3rd gate. Neriak teleporter had a guard that quickly sent my poor lvl 1 rogue back to paineel.

[fugazi]

I duo'd there with a friend as a mage/cleric. We did the zone in all the way up to the castle bridge where there usually is a lvl49-52 golem that hits like a truck and can summon. Lull/pacify lets you break up the entrance, and with the zone in being so close by, the only thing you will lose on a crit resist is mana. The money is okay thanks to gems and decent drops that tend to be lore, but the xp is amazing.

We later had an enchanter join and we did the whole castle crawl, but there literally isn't anything of note in there. Still, high mob density and good xp. Going in further means you really need to familiarize yourself with the spawns and paths, because it is easy to end up with a large pull AND having asshole mobs healing the one you're fighting through walls and buildings.


Great zone and one of those rare places a magician/cleric can absolutely wreck face.

[Superranger]

<3 this zone, nothing like a good Hole spelunkin session